Specialists from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA), in the province of Santiago de Cuba, made a diagnosis of the environmental situation and a comprehensive proposal for the development of the bay of this city.
José Alejandro Zapata, head of the Environment Unit in that direction, said that they are working to improve the conditions of the country's second most important cove, with the experiences of the State Development Group of the Bay of Havana and as a continuity to several Plans that have been happening since 1971.
This maritime access to the city of Santiago, of historical value because it was the scene of the first imperialist war in the world, also has natural and tourist attractions, with Marlyn Marina, as well as social and economic, due to the existence of numerous industries and the port Guillermón Moncada.
We face high levels of pollution, hunting, logging and poaching, and some areas with deteriorating living conditions, said the Doctor of Science.
Among the most significant incidents in 2016, he mentioned the accelerated discharge of urea that caused a red tide, which led to a ban on fishing and swimming for eight months, as well as the deterioration of mangroves by the waste from the oil factory .
He added that it has also happened that unscrupulous people break some pipelines of the industries to extract the liquids and sell them, or they tried to commercialize contaminated species like the manjúa, the machuelo and the tarpon.
Investment in technologies in the Quesarol and Soya plants, in order to reduce waste, is among the actions to address these problems, and there are also proposals for the treatment of the west sewage treatment, which flows into the bay, So that in case of breakage it is not necessary to pour into the water and contaminate.
Zapata pointed out that there are obsolete technologies, impossible to renew at a stroke, but it is possible to orderly change the processes that most affect, so it is necessary to evaluate not only impacts to the environment, but also costs.
We also want to replicate the experience of the Manglar Project in the provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque for the management of the protected areas of Parada and La Estrella Aguadores, and make proposals to integrate the community to the development of nature tourism and raise their environmental awareness .
The training geophysicist pointed out that it was possible to increase the draft in the area of management of the port and analyze other areas at the entrance to increase the current meters.
For the CITMA we requested funding to increase the monitoring with the five laboratories available to us, while we increased inspections and fines for contaminants in addition to other organisms in 2016, he added.
Similarly, he said, we advocate for the effective collection of taxes for dumping port waste.
In order to face this situation and make feasible many of the proposals, it is necessary to reconcile the large number of activities carried out in the cove, hence the proposal to create an Environmental Management Group of the Bay, which is negotiated with the authorities Correspondents, he said.